Ruin Falls

Book excerpt: Liz Daniels should be happy about setting off on a rare family vacation. Instead, she feels uneasy about taking her kids away from home to see their grandparents. Her husband, Paul, hasn’t spoken to his parents—or about them—in years, and it’s a long drive to the remote farmhouse. After a day on the road, Liz decides it’s time to check in to a hotel for the night. After all, everything always looks better in the morning. But when the sun comes up, she finds her worst fears realized and her entire existence upended: Paul is suddenly a stranger to her, and Liz must now fight to save her family. Her panic mounts as she races to unravel a web of lies, following a thread that leads deep into the woods and journeying from a safe, ordinary life to a disturbing, hidden world born from dreams and haunted by nightmares. Praise for Jenny Milchman and Ruin Falls “[Jenny] Milchman has a gift that allows her to delve deep into the mind and psyche of her characters, and fans of dark plots like the works of Gillian Flynn will find another author to savor.”—RT Book Reviews “Essential for psychological thriller fanatics . . . Extreme, heart-pounding action follows this determined mother as she risks everything to save her children.”—Library Journal “[Jenny Milchman] carves out a new niche with this unusual mix of ecothriller and family suspense drama.”—Booklist (starred review) “Milchman weaves a complex and intriguing tale, adeptly pacing the narrative as danger escalates. . . . Most impressive, though, is Liz’s transformation from a meek wife . . . to a strong, capable woman determined to rescue her children at any cost to herself.”—Publishers Weekly “Absorbing from start to finish: Jenny Milchman writes a deeply felt and suspenseful story of a woman whose life is upended by a death and a dark secret.”—Nancy Pickard, bestselling author of The Scent of Rain and Lightning “Milchman can evoke the shadows and fears of a rural community like no one else.”—DuJour